Slicks Garage Builds Ultimate Hot Rod for 2010 SEMA Show

Slick bought the perfectly matched K&N air filter from his local parts store.

Everything old is new again - Sha Na Na, Teen Angel, hot rods and hoods - it's all good at Slicks Garage. At Slicks they practice the lost art of creating classic cars from scratch. The custom and classic car shop located in downtown Palmetto, Florida, opened its doors in January of this year.

The 1932 Ford grill shell contains encapsulated tubes with air holes for distributing hydrogen gas through acrylic tubes which are filled with red dyed water for a 1950's Rockola jukebox look when it bubbles.

The 13,000 square-foot facility is a one-stop shop for local car enthusiasts and collectors and it's currently being featured on a local TV series titled "Tail Fins and Chrome". A new segment of the series called "Slicks Tricks," features garage owner Slick, demonstrating his tricks of the trade to the home car enthusiast.

"Thank you so much for your interest in "The Ultra" as it is an honor to be associated with K&N, given that I back your products regularly, so having an article done kind of brings things full circle," commented Slick when we contacted him.

The Ultra's matt black paint exterior is matched with high-grade red leather for the seats and panels.

First-things-first, why Slick?
"I am always asked how I got the nickname 'Slick', it started out in high school with my hair, as I was a greaser and had (and still do) so much stuff in my hair it looked like I was keeping the oil companies in business, and it just stuck."

The dash was hand-built with a 30's cockpit style in mind, complete with "knee holes."

Talk a bit about the Ultra; give us a few details about the car and what went into building it?
"I built The Ultra as a tribute to what hot rodding has been over the years and what it has become. We hand-built the body, which was first designed in shop, before a mold was made of it. The Ultra at SEMA 2010 was the first one from this new exclusive Slicks Garage mold, which features a hideaway top, along with hidden frame rails and extended front end, and has the option of smooth hood sides.

"The Ultra is the latest addition to our 17 hand-built fiberglass body styles. All bodies are made to order and can be ordered as traditional Fiberglass or as a low VOC (lower styrene content and acetone free cleanup) option; this Ultra was built as low VOC. The Ultra is available to order as a rolling chassis, or as a full custom assembled vehicle."

"I wanted this car to be different and not something that would blend in anywhere. Not a street rod, nor a rat rod, but a hot rod, done my way, with all the things that I liked about hot rodding."

"The interior needed to be a flat shade to tie into the matt black paint from House of Kolor's used on the exterior, so I chose a high-grade red leather for the seats and panels. Then I found a matt red paint to match from Valspar for the one piece dash and center console."

"I decided to design the interior with a new/old mix. So the dash was hand-built with 30's cockpit style holes for your legs (my girlfriend has nick-named them knee holes). Then we flowed the dash into the console, making it one piece, wrapping it around the backs of the seats similar to the '50's 'vettes. To bring it into the present, it has heated lumbar in the seats, digital gauges, and a/c controls from Dakota Digital that we blacked out and had Dakota convert to red for me. Alongside that are red illuminated billet buttons from Autoloc for the power windows and power top."

"To make it more intimate I put in red led light strips in the door pockets, under the console and in the 'knee holes.' There's a Pioneer touch screen stereo with navigation and built in gyrosphere, accelerometer, DVD and Bluetooth. The sound is then pounded out through Vibe's new 'Slick' line speakers and amp." I didn't want to clutter things up with some big shifter so I went with Master Shifts one wire paddle shifter and blacked it out to match better with the interior."

"The frame is the heart of a car in my opinion, so I decided to give it strength and also some weight, to help keep it on the ground at high speeds, so we built it with 1/4 inch thick 2x3 tubing with driveshaft loops, and the roll bar ties directly to the frame, as does the whole body's steel skeleton."

"The Vortech V-7 YSi supercharger with cog drive made it possible to get over 1000 horsepower. without losing our daily driver goal and it doesn't hurt our fuel mileage either as it's more efficient. To keep the supercharger from premature breakdown we kept clean air coming in thanks to a K&N air filter."

"A hydrogen system we developed with our scientist helps us achieve 60 miles-per gallon and produce a cleaner emissions pull than that of a new car. The grill shell is our customized 1932 Ford grill shell with encapsulated tubes with air holes distributing the hydrogen gas evenly through the acrylic tubing which is filled with red dyed water for the 50's Rockola jukebox look when it bubbles."

What is your background with building hot rods, has it been a long time passion?
"I have been lucky enough to have a hot rodder for a dad, and have been working on cars since I was 15, and before that on go-carts, before that on r/c cars, before that on model cars and before that on every Hot Wheels and Matchbox I could get."

"The hobby is a way of life that has helped me to be an artist, historian, mechanic, upholsterer, electrician, and hopefully a teacher for the next generation of hot rodders. I've had close to 400 cars that I've played with over the last 22 years, and those were just my toys, the number of customer cars I couldn't even begin to tell you."

"My parents and my brothers and I have had car lots, junk yards, wrecker services, mechanic shops, tire shops, even a car insurance agency. If you love what you do, you immerse yourself into all aspects of it, and learn all you can to better yourself and to provide a better service to your customers."

Why did you choose to go with K&N and how did that connection come about?
I decided to go with K&N because I can't think of another company that can provide the quality I want and has the proven track record to back it up. K&N has helped change and support our hobby for years. My local Advance Auto Parts had just the K&N air filter I needed to complete this project; it even looks like it was meant for my car!"

Are you working on anything else that you'd care to talk about?
Be sure to watch for my newest projects, the American Graffiti's 1932, five window coupe, and the 1955 Chevy for the Hillstrand brothers from the Time Bandit on The Deadliest Catch. These are going to be their personal cars and they are thinking about a remake of American Graffiti with a twist for TLC and Discovery. We are also currently building a 1932 Ford Vicki with a 496 blown injected hemi for a customer, and for a pass down the salt flats to get his 200 M.P.H. jacket."

K&N Engineering in Riverside California is the world's leading manufacturer of washable performance air filters and air intake systems. K&N invented the reusable high flow cotton air filter in 1969 and has been perfecting the technology ever since. K&N is a world class filtration company selling air filters, oil filters, and intakes in over 30 countries. K&N sells over 5,000 products designed for cars, trucks, motorcycles, engines, and industrial applications. From their Million Mile Warranty to their Consumer Protection Pledge, K&N stands behind their products and their consumers 100%. The distinctive K&N logo represents performance from one of the original performance companies. For more information, visit knfilters.com.